Car-roof.



No. 676,435. Patented .lune I8, I90I.

E. B. HUTCHINS &. S. HERBERT.

CAR ROOF.

(Application filed Jan; 11, 1900. Renewed Jan. 7, 1901.)

2 Shasta-Sheet l.

Patented lune I'8, I90l. E. R. HUTCHINS S. HERBERT. v

CAR ROOF.

(Application filed Jan. 11, 1900. Renewed Jan. 7, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G y 1,1-.- e

(N Model.)

WITN ESSES.' @(6.04

' UNrTED STATES l 3nTElnV1h OFFICE.

EUGENE R. HUT CHINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND SAMUEL HERBERT, .OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS TO C. B. HUTCHINS d5 SONS, OF

DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

CAR-ROOF.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 676,43 5, dated June 18, 1901.

Application filed January ll, 1900. Renewed January '7, 1901. Serial Nol 42,440. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.- Y

Beit known that we, EUGENE R. HUTcHINs, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, and SAMUEL HERBERT, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, citizens of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car-Roofs, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in roofs for railway-cars, and more particularly to the kind or class of car-roofs which are commonly known as iron roofs or outside iron roofs, and in which an outer` sheathing of sheet metal is employed and relied upon to make the roof water-tight. In this class or kind of car-roofs, where the outer sheetmetal sheathing is relied upon to make the roof water-tight, the metal plates of the roof are ordinarily laid or supported upon an inner sheathing of boards to give support to the sheet metal; but the inner sheathing of boards is not intended or calculated to make the roof water-tight in casewater should get through the outer sheet-metal roof, and therefore the meeting edges of the separate sheet-metal plates or strips of which the outer iron roof is composed have heretofore been united to gether rigidly and firmly by soldered joints or by close folded seams, or both, said soldered or folded seams being thus made water-tight. In this old construction, where the meeting edges of the plates forming the outside iron roof are secured firmly together by rigid soldered or folded seams or joints, the sheetmetal roof as a Whole has the operation and effect of being in one solid or integral piece of sheet metal, and the difficulty heretofore has been that such roofs are exceedingly liable to injury or destruction by reason of the con, stant jars and shocks and torsional or weaving and buckling strains to which the car is being constantly subjected while the train is in motion or to which it' is liable to be subj ected by corners of cars striking against each other on switch-tracks. Where the separate plates of the outside iron roof are united together at their meeting edges by soldered, folded, or other rigid joints, such strains tend 5o to speedily crack the sheet metal and cause leaks.

The object of our invention is to produce an outside iron roof for railway-cars of such construction that the joints between the separate plates of the roof will at once be effectually water-tight, so that the roof cannot leak, and which will at the same time leave the outside iron roof liexible,so that the strains will be taken by the wood framework and the layer of boards, and thus relieve the sheet metal, which requires to be Water-tight, from strain and liability to injury. In this connection it will of course be understood by those skilled in the art that the wood framework of the roof possesses naturally, from its Wood construction, adegree of flexibility that adapts it to yield under severe weaving or torsional strains sufficiently to prevent serious injury thereto, and in our invention we combine With the Wood framework a liexible outside iron roof having water-tight joints, the flexibilityof' theiron roof being byour peculiar construction of the water-tight joints between the metal plates sufliciently yielding or fleXi-' ble to prevent injurious strain on the sheet nations of parts and devices and novel con-vl struction of parts and devices herein shown and described, and specified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views, Figure l is a plan View of a portion of a roof embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section on line 2A 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 `is vertical longitudinal section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. l is a side elevation of a portion of the ridge` pole. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4, showing one of the saddles that supports the running-boards. Fig. 6 is a crosssection on line 6 6 of Fig. 4.. Figs. 7, 8, 9, and l0 are detail views showing the bolt-and-cap construction for connecting the ridge-pole to the center purlin of the roof-frame by a water# tight connection; and Fig. ll is an enlarged detail view of the lower iiexible Water-tight joint uniting the meeting edges of the separate plates comprising the outside iron roof. In the drawings, A represents one of the eaves-plates of the car-roof frame; B, the

IOO

' main carlines; C C, the purlins, and D the ridge-purlin.

E E represent the inner sheathing of boards upon which the metal plates F F composing the outside iron roof are laid and by which they are supported or stiffened. The metal sheets or plates F extend from the eaves of the roof to the ridge-pole H, which is provided with a central longitudinal groove or channel H to receive the upturned ends or flanges F of the sheets or plates F. These upturned flanges thus, in combination with the channel in the ridge-pole, hold the plates from slipping downward or toward the eaves and also, in connection with the ridge-pole, prevent water from entering the car at the ridge or between the meeting en ds of the roofplares on opposite sides of the roof. The adjacent metal plates F F are united together at their side edges by a water-tight loose fiexible joint comprising a high upright flange f, an outwardlyturned downward flange f', and inwardly-turned upright fiange f2, formed on the edge of one sheet, and a high upright iiangef3 andl inwardly-turned downward `fiange f"1 on the side edge of the adjacent sheet. lt will thus be seen that on the meeting edges of one sheet there are three folds or angesf, f', andfz, the same extending outwardlyfrom the side margin of the sheet, and on the side edge of the adjacent sheet there are two flanges or folds f3 fL and that the same extendinwardlyor toward the sheet. These several folds 'or fianges are made open or loose, so that the separate sheets or plates F F- will have sufficient play or movement to and from each other to give the necessary or required iiexibility to the sheet-metal roof as a Whole to relieve it from strain, and although the joint thus formed between the adjacent sheets of the iron roof is a loose one composed of open flangesff f2 and f3 f4 still the joint is completely and perfectly water tight against the fercest driving rain from whatever direction it may be driving or the wind blowing, because the open folds ff form a hood over the folds or fianges fifi), and f4, so that rain driving from the side of the flangef is simply carried over the joint and is deposited upon the adjacent plate F, while rain driving from the other side of the joint would be simply carried up the flange f3 and returned by the fiange f2 to the plate F itself, or else if it passed over the extreme edge of the flange f2 and followed down the flange f4 it would be deposited in the glitter or trough formed by the anges f f2, and thus be carried down to the eaves and be discharged. By this particular construction of joint we are enabled to produce a perfectly Water-tight connection between the side edges of the roof-plates and at the same time have the connection so loose and free that the outside iron roof can readily accommodate itself to any yielding, Weaving, or torsional movements that the wood frame of the car-roof may have or be subjected to.

We thus relieve our outside water tight metal roof from all injurious strains tending to crack, injure, or destroy it, and produce a thoroughly efficient and durable car-roof. As the metal plates F F are secured together at their side edges by loose free joints composed of open folds or iianges, we are also enabled 'by our invention to furnish a roof of a very cheap construction, as the separate metal plates of the roof can be quickly put together Vby simply slipping or telescoping one upon another. This also enables the roof to be easily and quickly repaired by simply slipping out an injured plate and replacing it by another, the ridge-pole being first removed. The upturned ends or flanges F' at the ridge end of theplates F do not interfere with the slipping or telescoping of the high loose standing joints ff'ffsft, which unite the meet ing side edges of the plates F.

H is the ridge-pole, and K represents the saddles, which support the running-boards M. The ridge-pole His furnished with notches h to receive the saddles K, and we thus bring the upper surface of the ridge-pole flush with the running-boards M M, which rest on the saddles, so that the ridge-pole itself serves as the middle running-board. To secure a perfectly water-tight connection between the ridge-pole H and the ridge-pnrlin D, we provide the bolts N, that' pass through the two to secure the same together, with bung-shaped or bung-acting caps P, having tapering or beveled anges p, so that they may be forced or driven water-tightinto the openings formed .to receive them' in the ridge-pole. These bung-caps for the con necting bolts N are provided with angular slots or bayonet-catches p" on their inside to receive the corresponding cap P', which surrounds the head N' of the connecting-bolt N the cap P having projections p2 to enter the angle-slots p on the interior of the bung-cap-P. The bung-cap P is also furnished withjone or more teeth p3 on its outer edges to prevent the same turning in the ridge-pole.

In bolting the ridge-pole and ridge-purlin together the bolt is first inserted through the cap P, and then .the bung-cap P is applied to the cap P and turned so as to lock the two together, and then the bolt is passed through the ridge-pole and ridge-purlin and the bung-cap forced into the ridgepole watertight.

The ridge-pole H is provided at intervals with notches h to receive the high standing joints which unite the side edges of the separate plates forming the outside iron roof.

Q represents the siding, and R the facia. The roof-plates F are preferably furnished with downturned ends or flanges f8 at the eaves overlapping the facia.

We claim- 1. In a car-roof, the combination with the car-roof frame and inner layer of boards thereon, of a loose, flexible' outside sheetmetal or iron roof resting thereon and comq IOC:

IIO

IZO

posed of a series of metal sheets or plates adapted to be telescoped longitudinally into position upon each other and united together at their side edges by water-tight, loose, highstanding joints extending from eaves to ridge 4 of the car-roof and composed each of three flanges or folds on the side edge of one sheet engaging two iianges or folds on the side edge of the adjacent sheet with open spaces between the j oint-fianges ou one sheet and those on the other to give flexibility to theroo` as a whole While forming a Water-tight joint, a ridge pole furnished with a longitudinal groove or channel on its under side, said sheets or plates having upturned ends or fianges at their upper ends Vfitting in said channel or groove in the ridge-pole, substantially as specified.

2. In a car-roof, the combination with the car-roof frame and inner layer of boards thereon, of a loose, fieXible outside sheetmetal or iron roof resting thereon and composed of a series of metal sheets or plates adapted to be telescoped longitudinally into position upon each other and united together at their side edges by water-tight, loose, highstanding joints extending from eaves to ridge of the car-roof and composed each of three flanges or folds on the side edge of one sheet engaging two flanges or folds on the side edge of the adjacent sheet with open spaces between the joint-anges on one sheet and those on the other to give flexibility to the roof as a whole while forming a Water-tight joint, a ridge-pole furnished with a longitudinal groove or channel on its under side, said sheets or plates having upturned ends or flanges at their upper ends fitting in said channel or groove in the ridge-pole, and bolts extending through the ridge-pole and ridgepurlin between the upturned flanges F of said sheets or plates, substantially as specified.

3. In a car-roof, the combination with the car-roof frame and inner layer of boards thereon, of a loose, eXible outside sheetlnetal or iron roof resting thereon and composed of a series of metal sheets or plates adapted to be telescoped longitudinally into position upon each other and united together at their side edges by water tight, loose, high-standing joints, extending from eaves to ridge of the car-roof and composed each of three anges or foldsy on the side edge of one sheet engaging two flanges or folds on the side edge of the adjacent sheet with open spaces between the joint-flanges on one sheet and those on the other to give exibility to the roof as a whole while forming a'Watertight joint, a ridge-pole furnished with a longitudinal groove or channel on its under side, said sheets or plates having upturned ends or flanges at their upper ends fitting in said channel or groove in the ridge-pole and bolts extending through the ridge-pole .and the ridge-purlin between the upturned flanges F'. of said sheets or plates, said bolts having eachv at its upper end or head a bung-cap and a detachable connection between the bung-cap and the head of thev bolt, substantially as specified.

- EUGENE R. HUTCHINS.

SAMUEL HERBERT.

NVitnesses to the signature of Samuel Her bert: v

W. D. THOMPSON,

GRACE J. JONES. 

